May is the time to dig into gardening, and we've got some great gardening books to help you along the way. Here are a few of our favourites:
Carrots Love Tomatoes by Louise Riotte
This book is a great resource for helping with companion planting! I’m currently redesigning my backyard into an edible food forest where my daughter can meander and play in the garden with balance beams and stepping stones and a mud kitchen. This book is great for helping me design a natural edible landscape where vegetables drift together and are interwoven with native plants and soil benefiting plants. I'm so excited that companion planting helps create ecosystems for bugs, birds, and yes, the dreaded rabbit, but still provide enough support that we can all share and my family can have some food too! - Mary
A Garden for the Rusty-Patched Bumblebee by Lorraine Johnson
I was drawn to "A Garden for the Rusty-Patched Bumblebee" because of its focus on supporting pollinators and the importance of native plants in saving the bees. This guide provides practical tips for creating pollinator-friendly spaces with plant recommendations specific to Southern Ontario. It emphasizes the crucial role native plants play in supporting bees, including the endangered rusty-patched bumblebee. A must-read for anyone interested in protecting pollinators and fostering biodiversity in their own gardens. - Emma
The Gardener's Guide to Native Plants of the Southern Great Lakes Region by Rick Gray and Shaun Booth
I found this book very helpful as an introduction to native plants, the kinds that were already here before Europeans arrived. They’re valuable for supporting local wildlife like birds and insects, and they’re usually low-maintenance since they’re naturally adapted to the area. The book features over 150 plants and walks you through everything you need to know: what kind of conditions they like, how to care for them, and even how to propagate them. The colour photos are important, with lots of beautiful and delicate flowers to inspire your garden plans. If you want to build a garden that’s both easy to manage and environmentally friendly, this book is a great place to start. -- Elisa
We Garden Together! Projects for Kids : Learn, Grow, and Connect with Nature by Jane Hirschi
Explore the gardens this summer with the younger ones in your life with this fun and engaging book full of experiments and projects. Connect with nature while building a birdfeeder with recycled materials, going on a worm hunt or sprouting seeds and watching them grow. Fun for all ages! - Samantha
Grow Without a Garden: 101 Plants for Containers by Lara Lucretia Mrosovsky
A vibrant and educational book written by a Torontonian who founded Miinikaan (‘the Seed’ in Ojibwe); a group of professionals who consult on garden installations designed to feed people and pollinators, to educate on Indigenous Agroecology, and to cultivate relationships between people and plants. This book is anti-copyright, associated with creative commons, and designed to be reproduced to use its contents to teach and learn. It is easy to understand and organized in a helpful way that provides a lot of information in small digestible snippets. Learn about considering elements such as soil and overwintering, types of containers and constructing your own, companion planting, and when and how to grow plants with or without a garden. The attractive illustrations make it easy to conceptualize the methods used and to identify plants. Bonus, the inks used to print the book are plant-based! - Monica
Wild at Home: How to Style and Care for Beautiful Plants by Hilton Carter
If you’ve ever wanted to transform your living space into a lush, vibrant jungle, Hilton Carter’s “Wild at Home” is the ultimate guide. This inspiring book is perfect for plant lovers and interior design enthusiasts alike. It offers expert tips on how to choose and style plants, and practical advice on everything from watering to lighting and potting. With stunning photography and Hilton’s ability to blend aesthetics with care, “Wild at Home” shows you how to transform any room into a lush, green sanctuary. Whether you’re a seasoned plant parent or just getting started, this book will help you create your own indoor oasis. - Natashia